How to link your domain name to your MySiteCMS account website

Having a great website that is easy to maintain and engages your visitors is only one step to planning your online business. Having a great and easy to remember domain name (URL) that links to your website is just as important. Before you start, read more about selecting the right domain name to get the most out of your online marketing.

After you have selected and registered a domain name you need to point it to our servers. This can be accomplished in 2 ways; 301 Redirect and A-Record. We recommend using the A-Record approach as it will convey your chosen domain name throughout the website's pages. The 301 redirect should only be used when pointing more than one domain name toward your MySiteCMS account.

A-Record

Changing the A-Record IP address points your domain name to our servers and allows seamless integration into the MySiteCMS system. This is the recommended approach.

1. To start the process, log into your MySiteCMS admin account, navigate to the website tab > settings > website url section. The website url section will list the current address of your website.

2. Next, click the edit url button and enter your website domain name and click the edit url button. The website url section will now list your new website url (and if this is a new change, a "not verified" notice). We will be notified and make adjustments (within 24 hours) to our servers. During the rest of the setup process your website's default address will still function with the default account url. See next step.

3. Lastly, log into your domain name's registrar account and locate the DNS zone file settings. Change the A-Record to match the IP address listed in the website url section of your MySiteCMS account. Here is a walk-through on how to accomplish this on a GoDaddy account.

Once this change has been finalized the website url section of your website will be listed as verified. From this point on all image asset urls, custom navigation links, and all other linked items will contain the new url. All previous assets and links will contain the default url.

301 Redirect

This option was intended to be used to point an alternative domain name at a specific page of your website. This option should not be used as the main address of your website.

Adding a 301 redirect to your domain name is very straight forward. log into your domain name's registrar account and locate the domain's nameserver settings. You will find a place to redirect the domain to another url.

To get your MySiteCMS website's default url, log into your MySiteCMS admin account, and from any of the admin screens scroll to the bottom of the screen and click "view website." This will open a new window containing your website.

Select and copy the full address from the address bar of the page you would like the domain name to point to. Return to domain registrar's management page and paste the url to be forwarded to, select permanent redirect, and save your changes.

Posted to: Default Website Settings